


The Kindness of Strangers

by Freedoms_Champion



Series: Malcolm Merlyn's Mom Moments [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen, Malcolm drives around looking for kids in trouble, Pre-Series, Roy trusts no one, Swearing, he's nice though, some violence, the Glades is not a good place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedoms_Champion/pseuds/Freedoms_Champion
Summary: Roy didn't expect anyone to help him when he got attacked. He really didn't expect a ninja in an expensive suit who more or less kidnapped him afterwards.Sometimes, a little bit of trust isn't the worst thing in the world.
Series: Malcolm Merlyn's Mom Moments [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765921
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	The Kindness of Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy it!  
> Malcolm continues to show up out of nowhere to be nice to people.

“Hey, Harper!”

Roy knew better than to turn at the shout. He’d lived in the Glades his whole life and he knew when a shout meant trouble. This one was overflowing with it. He dug his hands a little tighter into the pocket of his hoodie and crossed the street at a quick walk.

“Don’t ignore me, asshole!” Running feet followed the shout, telling Roy this one wasn’t going away. He pulled his hands out and turned, ready to throw a punch.

The guy shouting at him was faster. Something hard smashed across Roy’s forehead, making light flash in front of his eyes and sending him painfully to the pavement. A stiff kick in the stomach followed it up, making Roy curl into an instinctive ball.

“You screwed me over, Harper! Did you think you’d get away with it?”

Roy couldn’t get a breath to answer, not that he had much to say for himself. He hadn’t gotten a look at the guy and couldn’t tell if he had a good reason to be upset or not. Of course, it was the Glades. Roy probably had done something to this guy in order to keep himself alive.

He regretted it, most of the time, but there really wasn’t another way to do things down here.

The guy aimed a few more kicks at Roy, which really wasn’t anything new. The sharp flash that rose above everything else told him a rib was broken, screwing up the rest of Roy’s plans for the week. He gritted his teeth. Maybe if he took the beating, this guy would figure they were even and leave him alone.

“Hey! What are you doing?” a new voice shouted.

Roy couldn’t move until he caught his breath, but he heard the solid meaty sound of someone throwing a punch. Just his luck that someone else would have a bone to pick with the guy attacking him. He might be able to crawl away while they brawled it out.

In the unlikely case that it was a cop or something, he’d be better off getting away before it was over.

Unable to help his curiosity, Roy managed to uncurl enough to get a look at the fight.

It made him blink and look twice.

Rather than a ragged Glades resident or a cop, the fight was between the guy who had attacked Roy and a middle-aged guy in a fancy suit. And the old guy was kicking ass. Even as Roy watched, he rolled aside from a punch and popped up without even looking ruffled. He did a spinning kick that looked straight out of a martial arts movie and laid the guy out on the sidewalk.

Roy hauled himself to his feet, ready to stumble home and clumsily patch himself up. A hand caught his elbow.

“Young man, who don’t you come with me?”

It wasn’t much of a request. The ninja guy nearly pulled Roy off his feet toward a limo that looked totally out of place on an empty street in the Glades. Roy wanted to protest, but he couldn’t get his mouth to work. The guy dumped him into the limo and sat beside him.

The moving car made Roy want to throw up, but he swallowed it down.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe,” the ninja guy said. “Don’t worry, I’m going to take care of you.”

Roy didn’t like the sound of that, but the guy was between him and the door. Jumping out wasn’t an option. Fighting didn’t look good, and the suit and the limo suggested this guy had money. A lot of money.

Yeah, Roy was screwed. Possibly literally, depending on what the guy wanted from him.

“How badly are you injured?” the guy asked, shaking Roy out of a grey fuzz. That wasn’t good, Roy knew that much. His bells had been rung pretty good if he couldn’t keep track of his surroundings.

“Not bad. Knock on the head, a few body blows. Cracked rib, maybe. Look, just let me go.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that. Since I’m sure you don’t want to visit the hospital, I’ll call my doctor to get you taken care of. Just stay awake for me, ok?”

“Who are you, anyway?” Roy asked. He needed to get a grip on this situation, fast. If he was allowed to ask questions, he might be able to learn enough to escape.

“My name is Malcolm Merlyn. What’s yours?”

Roy couldn’t help a painful snort at the inbred politeness the guy probably wasn’t even aware of in his voice. Of course, none of it made sense. He knew the name Merlyn; he was some big-shot business tycoon. He wouldn’t be hanging around the Glades, showing off ninja skills and kidnapping petty criminals.

“Roy,” he said reluctantly. The less he said about himself the better.

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, Roy, but that’s not totally true,” Merlyn said, a bit of humor sparkling in his eyes. He had a square kind of face, complete with cleft chin. The fine lines around his eyes suggested a lot of polite smiles. Roy ignored the little bit of him that wanted to trust the guy. Trust was another road to getting dead.  
“What do you want with me? I’m not going to get you anything you can’t get on your own.”

Merlyn chuckled a bit.

“I don’t want anything from you, Roy. I want to help you. I’m offering a good meal, a doctor, and safe place to recover before you go back to the Glades. If you want, I can try to help you with your future. That’s all, I swear.”

“Yeah, and I’m Oliver Queen. Guys like you don’t help guys like me,” Roy scoffed.

“Actually, I know Oliver Queen. You have a lot more grit. Of course, that’s not the best thing to say about my son’s best friend. Believe me or not, Roy, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m sincere.”

Roy wanted to frown, but the knot on his forehead ached enough already. He settled back in his seat, unwilling to say anything else.

The limo pulled up in front of the kind of house Roy would never be welcome inside. Merlyn hauled him through the front door, firm but careful.

“There’s really nothing to worry about, Roy. My son is out somewhere, no one’s going to bother you.”

“You’re bothering me,” Roy complained.

Merlyn laughed and led him up a staircase.

“Here. Get a hot shower while I find some clean clothes. By then, there’ll be something to eat and Doctor Berlanti can check you over.”

Merlyn flipped on the lights and closed the door behind him, leaving Roy alone in a bedroom the size of his house.

Maybe that was exaggerating a little, but it really was big. Dark blue walls complemented the lighter blue drapes and furniture. There were two doors, dark wood with white knobs. Just the bed would have taken up all of Roy’s bedroom.

Roy abruptly knew he didn’t belong here. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known that, but this room hammered it home through the pain that was still clouding his thinking. Here was a place that Merlyn probably never thought about that clearly demonstrated everything Roy didn’t have. Neat, clean, and in good repair.

He jumped painfully went the door opened again. Merlyn walked in with an armload of folded clothes.

“Roy, I’m not going to ambush you in the shower,” he admonished. A cheeky grin crossed his face, clashing with his serious businessman appearance. “I don’t take advantage of kids or guests. You’re younger than my son.”

“Then why bother saving me?” Roy blurted out. It wasn’t like he wanted to be molested, but none of this made sense in the world Roy was familiar with. No one just did things that didn’t benefit them in any way.

Merlyn sighed and set the clothes on the bed. He sat beside them, darkness coming into his eyes.

“My wife was murdered not ten feet from where I found you. I’m not about to let Glades violence take another life, not right in front of me. Not when there’s something I can do about it.”

The snarl in his words took Roy by surprise.

“I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly.

Merlyn glanced at him, shaken out of whatever memory had grabbed him. He smiled, but it was a ghostly expression.

“Get cleaned up, Roy. I’ll get you something to eat.”

He left again and Roy shook his head.

He wasn’t going to waste an opportunity. Maybe Merlyn was a crazy rich ninja. Maybe he wasn’t being totally honest about what was going on. Maybe Roy was too paranoid. He wasn’t going to turn down a hot shower and a meal, especially not when he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten something that wasn’t junk.

The water stung in the scrapes on his skin and Roy ignored it. The water ran red around his feet for a while as he washed off mostly dried blood and he ignored that too. After he ate, he’d figure out how to get away, but for now he was going to take everything he could get.


End file.
